Why didn't the PAL and Boys Club "MEET" before all this HIT THE FAN? Ray MUST GO GO GO!!! Before he runs the BOE into the ground.GO BACK TO THE CITY!!!

Another horrible job, not well thought out by our leaders.

Oh please people...this policy was ALWAYS in place and the new policy is actually reducing fees. Joe Lynch should not have created such a fury as he knows that this policy has been in place for years.

Jerry.....if this policy has been in place for years, apparently, it was not enforced . Why was it not enforced all these years? While I'm not opposed to this policy, I do think that proper protocal would have been to call in the Boy's and Girl's Club, PAL and other organizations that use these facilities and work something out with them. With the new restrictions put on our BOE, such as the 2% cap,it's not necessarily a bad thing to look for new revenue streams. Unfortunately, these new streams affect us all differently. My grandaughter participates in some of the sports programs at the Boy's and Girl's Club. She as a kindergartner,and attends the Boys Club in the afternoon. Will this affect the tuition costs as well as the costs to participate in a sports program? Probably! It hurts on both sides of the issue. These are difficult times and difficult decisions have to be made which affects us all. I just wonder why the policy was not enforced all these years if it was in place! Was it enforced for some and not for others? Some clarification on these questions would be nice!

But now the focus should shift to be on exactly how much in the way of taxpayer dollars is funneled to private organizations through the Recreation Department. The practice should come to a screaching halt, for it has the potential to become a conduit for political support and political involvement.

Now the super is backpeddling! Is this a smoke screen to avoid a stampede at the BOE tonight? BOE is being greedy. The community needs the Boys & Girls Clubs, PALs, Soccer, Little League, Girl Scouts, Boys Scouts, etc. Our voices need to be heard tonight. We need to speak up. Enough is enough.

How is he doing a good job? He needs to hire an Assistant Superintendent and a PR person. We need to waste more of our taxpayers money to have people do his job for him. Let's not forget some of the people in our school system whose contracts were not renewed. What- to bring in more of his friends. Why should there be fees imposed on fields we already pay for as taxpayers when the town does not even offer all these sports programs through the parks and rec dept.?

Chicken the money is paid by the town through the recreation department (or so I have heard) to various organizations to have them run soccer, basketball programs. The money comes out of the general revenue funds of the town and is paid to the private organizations such as PAL, or Boys and Girls Club, Packanack Lake etc, etc.

It would be refreshing to put that one to bed and have the leadership of the Boys and Girls Club or PAL or the Mayor and Council through the BA step up and unequivocably state that general revenue funds are not supplied to these organizations in any form. Lets get the facts or lets put the rumor to bed.

The Boy's and Girl's Club, PAL, the Wayne Little League, Boys and Girl Scouts are so important to our children. Personally, I think these organizations are vital to our community and help make it what it is! Without them, I honestly don't think that our Township would be what it is today. While I am not opposed to the BOE charging for the use of their facilities, and I know that's not a popular position to take, I do think that every effort should be taken by the BOE to work with these organizations, and make this policy more palatable. It's a difficult position to be in. On one hand it's not politically popular. On the other hand it is probably prudent in a financial sense. Unfortunately, we are in difficult times and hard and difficult decisions need to be made. When positions taken, affect our children and our wallets it's not always popular!

Scondo, go to the annual meeting the PAL has that is open to the public. I'm sure the WBC does the same to comply with nfp organizations. Ask to see the line items regarding funds received from the township. They have to show it to you. While your there, ask to see how much they pay to provide programs for the youth of the township to ensure our children are not left in the street to their own devices. I think you would be quite surprised to see the rather small stipend provided pales in comparison to the expense of programs. After that, think about how much these programs save the tax payer by providing opportunities the township schools or rec dept do not.

I agree, what is going to happen to our kids when the prices for 'activities' sky rocket because of these fee's (Fee's that we as tax payers are already covering). I think it is highly important for our children to be part of teams and good organizations. While it is great that the BOE is willing to work with Wayne B&G club an PAL but what about girl/boy scout organization who uses the class room facilities, or Wayne Soccer Club?

Finally my greatest wonder is, Will the BOE be responsible for maintaining these outdoor facilities properly now??? Or will the fields be over grown, equiptment be missing, ect. as it is today?? What exactly is thia hundreds of thousands of dollars going to.... administrative salaries?????

This is just another way to get around the 2% tax cap the board has. The board is passing the costs to the orginizations and they will in turn pass them on to the taxpayers. I really hope that they rethink this policy. Parents can't afford to keep there kids in these activities if fees go up. Then what do you tell the kids when there parents say "we just can't afford it"? Let's dump the PR firm and the assistant superintendent and then figure out what other fat we can trim.

Now the super is backpeddling! Is this a smokescreen so the BOE is not flooded with concerned voters tonight? The BOE is being greedy! We need the Boys & Girls Clubs, PALs, Soccer, Little League, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, etc. We need to make sure our voices are heard tonight! Enough is enough!

The amounts listed seem fairly reasonable for a four hour use of time. If the fees are too high, private (non profits and for profits) can seek different fields that are cheaper to use. Sounds simple enough. If you don't like what someone is charging you, take your business elsewhere.
Except for the fact that these BOE fees will still be the lowest in town.
Its either pay some fees or lose teachers. YOU, the taxpayers, can decide. New Supt seems to want to focus district $ on instruction, which is hardly a fireable offense.

ALL,Like i said in the first post,WHY WAS NOT A MEETING between all involved before all of this HIT THE FAN? Their is THE RIGHT WAY AND THE WAYNE WAY!!!!! COME AND WATCH THE CIRCUS TONIGHT, ABOUT THE ONLY FREE THING YOU GET TO SEE IN WAYNE ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@WayneEducator I am curious how a PR Firm and the assistant superintendent that wasn't needed is focusing district money on instruction?

Like LAX2009 I also heard that there was a meeting scheduled with John Maso, the director of building services. The concerned organizations were contacted by mail and asked to attend and only one organization showed up, I believe it was the PAL but I'm not certain. An attempt was made to do this "The Right Way" but people needed to show up and they didn't.

Maria,The BOE has ALREADY PRIVATETIZED cutting and maintaining the lawns at both the middle school and high school level.Elementary will be next.You see the shape their in.Wasn't that way when the BOE MAINTENANCE STAFF took care of the field.Like i said "you get what you paid for".Where do you think these fees will go?

This current Board of Ed in Wayne has made a mockery of our town! Their incompetence has made us the talk of the state! Their arrogance is one that needs to be stopped! This new Super has been a disaster in a very short time! In case you’re not paying attention he is in the process of bringing many of his colleges from Hackensack and Paterson to take the leadership positions in Wayne! Wayne was recently ranked in the top 50 of schools! Hackensack was 198, Orange was 320, and Paterson 290! I guess those districts have been the model of success! He has narrowed his choice of the Wayne Hills Principal position to the Hackensack HS principal who was recently let go and a Middle School principal from Orange! He never even considered the qualified VP’s in the district with the exception of token 20 min interviews. Now some of the great VP’s that are being passed over from the district are looking to get out! Who can blame them! Do you know he just hired an IT director from Paterson’s district who was recently working at Best Buy! Are you kidding!

If you are ok with him hiring an assistant super, who was a friend of his in Paterson for big money, replacing principals because board members don’t like them with political favors from failing districts, replacing the board attorney to put in his former colleague, reorganizing our athletic departments in a way that has failed in 3 similar districts over the last couple of years and finally, and hired a PR firm that he apparently doesn’t use, then just sit back and do nothing!
The fact is, if we sit back and do nothing, our kids are going to suffer, our taxes will increase, and the value of our homes will decrease! It was not long ago that our school system and programs were the model of what others aspired to be! It is why many of us chose this town and moved here.
If you are fed up and want to put an end to this you can! Attend tonight’s, May 17th Board of Ed meeting and tell them to end this crusade of destroying this district! We all have the power in November to begin the process and get qualified board members, however, look at the damage being created before then. Remember they control and spend 100's of millions of dollars of our money, and yet they walk out, hide behind the new lap tops we all bought them and don’t even pay attention when citizens get up to speak to them at a meeting!! Stand up and demand your voice be heard before its to late!

I have told you all from the beginning. He is lining up his friends for jobs in Wayne. The Asst. Super offered a job to someone I know less than a week after she was hired. The law firm just recieved a contract from Hackensack where he just came from. Do we need a PR firm & Administrators from losing school districts? The answer is No, No, No. This BOE is horrible. These two bozo's will soon be out just like the last two with thier pockets full of our hard earned tax dollars. Fee's should be paid by out of town groups and for profit organizations. The PAL, Boy's Club, Wayne Little league, Girl & Boy Scout's etc shouldn't have to pay a dime. Most of thier adminstrators and members are Township residents who pay taxes. This is an utter disgrace. Attn Paul K! If you think bringing all your friends in for six figure jobs and contracts then you need your head examined. Look at his past Districts they are rife with nepotism, illegal dealings and contracts etc. Not to mention they are failing districts also. Wait till a certain employee at Anthony Wayne's concerning her former District get out. The sh-t is really gonna hit the fan. Someone will be explaining how she got hired in the Wayne District.

Pad,Like i said before,THERE IS THE RIGHT WAY AND THE WAYNE WAY. Hope to see all at the CIRCUS tonight! BRING POPCORN, or maybe the board members will be selling it for $100 a bag to screw the taxpayers some more.

Hi everyone. A bunch of us are standing up to protest this movement through a new facebook community. You can help by Liking the page at http://www.facebook.com/FightFieldFees. As for the sup[er, I'm not sure if he's doing a good or bad job. But, this is a bad decision. It hurts the kids and it will ultimately mean more money out of a taxpayer's pocket. We have to stand up and say no to that type of approach.

Funny I was at a Super Bowl party (jan or feb) when my Bergen county friend told me that someone he knew was the new athletic director in Wayne?.....Interesting bc this was before the decision was made to make one AD!!!!!! I I thought he was nuts but I guess he knew more about what was going on than I did!,,,,,

I agree w/M Bubba-drop the assistant super & PR firm-bring back Outdoor Lab & scrap this sports BS.

Probably your friend was telling the truth. They are bringing in all their friends to feed at the Wayne Taxpayer's expense. Every new hire should be looked at closely including his former district and his ties to the new Super and his Asst. The people who blindly support the Wayne BOE should really open their eyes and see what is really going on in this town. Instead of listening to the BOE & WEA propaganda that it's for the children. Most of the budget is lining their pockets and the pockets of thier friends. You know the old saying "That a New Broom Sweeps Clean". Well thats just what Gonzalez is doing in Wayne. He's sweeping out all our dirt, just to bring in a fresh new pile of his dirt. Of course all outsider's with no real ties or commitment to Wayne or it's children. Just to their pocketbooks, that's their only interest. C'mon Wayne taxpayers fill it up. Wait till the sh-t hits the fan over someone who is employed at Anthony Wayne Middle School. It will be interesting to see who hired this person with a such an interesting bad background that is freely public knowledge. I guess background checks only apply when you don't know somebody to get you in. Or was this a total blunder on Wayne's part. Who know's? but it will be interesting.

Scondo.......Bringing in people you're familiar with, that you've worked well with is nothing new. I agree with you. In almost 40 years of being in corporate America, I've seen it many times. However, here's the rub. When you bring in an administrator from a school system that is ranked far lower than ours and their letter rating, (which I don't understand) is also far below ours, ( e.g. Paterson, Hackensack, Orange), then there is some reason for concern. There is a reason these school systems are ranked where they are and certainly an administrator who is part of that system has some culpability in that rating.. We here in Wayne want the best. We want the best administrators, we want the best teachers, etc. We simply want the best for our children. Frankly, I'd like to see more promotions from within. I find it hard to believe we don't have capable people from within to handle these jobs.I also get concerned that this " outsider" knows somebody who knows somebody, and a political favor is being done.Don't be naive. I believe you are quite an intelligent person. Don't think for one minute that our local State Assemblyman, also a former Wayne Mayor, also a former County party leader, also a former County Freeholder doesn't have a say in all this! We can only hope that these "outsiders" are capable independent thinkers who have our children in mind and a goal to constantly improve our system.

Al,THANK YOU!! What is the matter with our Vice-Principals in our schools. Why don't they want to move up to principal? Why look some place else when you have people in our own schools?

I would bet they interviewed and were not chosen.......

These fees are not new news. The BOE tried to do this last year but for some reason they were never executed. I am current and soon to former band parent president at Valley. We hold our annual craft fair at the school each year as our main fund raiser. I do not recall the exact amount of the bill but it was not cheap. The realty is it costs a lot of money to clean up and maintain the field and gyms for these events. Case and point. Last weekend the relay for life was held at Wayne Valley. The event was from 4pm to 6am the next day. The lights were on at the field for quite some time and custodial staff was constantly present cleaning up. Should the taxpayers (us) pay for this? Just asking. You can see the conflicts and answers are not so easy.
Some would argue that the taxes we are paying should cover all of these expenses. In a perfect world yes, but we are not in a perfect world. It is more than sports and the use of the fields. It is the gym for the Wayne Alliance Basketball Game, it is the auditorium for special events that take place and the list goes on and on. When the fees directly effect us is when we get mad. There are no easy answers here but my strong suggestion to those who use these facilities is go to the BOE and ask to negotiate these fees for your event. You never know what may happen. Try a little honey instead of vinegar.

Scondo ... I'm going to say this s l o w l y, so you can understand. The answers you seek will be found in the budgets of the township and both the PAL and WBC. Rather than get the truth, you find it more satisfying to repeat the same mantra over and over. Get your answers and satisfy yourself. How it is a political control issue supporting the organizations that serve the children of wayne, I really don't know. Doling out dollars to support recreation ... it sounds like a communist plot.

What was the original deal with the turf fields. Wasn't there a sharing of costs between township green acres funding and boe funding? Didn't the council approve joining in the cost only after securing time for youth sports on the high school turf fields? How does this affect the fee schedule? How does the boe reimburse the township when softball plays at barbour's pond? How much does the boe pay to rent the parking lots they park the buses at by north cave park? Slippery slope all being tossed in our faces to distract from the rampant spending of the boe. PR firms, per diem principals over summer break, macbooks, assistants, on and on. Do they really think we are that stupid? Or do they just know the furor will die down after they distract a few with diversions like field fees. And yes, the BOE is a separate governmental entity. One elected by the taxpayers running facilities paid for by the taxpayers, paying salaries with taxpayer dollars. They want to censor free speech at meetings? Not in America!

Where pray tell, did the BOE get the land to build the facilites? From the taxpayers!!!!

Does the BOE pay rent to hold meetings at Town Hall? Do they pay for the electric, the heat, cleaning personnel, tv coverage, police??? NO, the taxpayers pick up that tab as well. Separate governance my rear end! More like a parasite living off the lifeblood of the taxpayer.

E.Whopler-I Would say that is a Class 2 Auditorium/Multi-Purpose Room. Price $300 Paid ??? Custodian $45 Paid ?? Here we go again!! Another name for our BOE( BEND OVER EVERYONE)